Page 47 of The Rejected King
She waved the air in front of her like that could somehow erase the view from her mind and then snapped her eyes to his face. There was a glint in his gaze that made her skin flush, and a fresh wave of guilt flooded through her.
“Sorry.” She pushed past him with the tray of food, trying to distance herself from his pecs. “I think I blacked out for a second. You know, from my head injury last night.” She set the tray down on the table in the center of the room and turned to him.
“I hope it’s not permanent.” His cocky smile made her want to crawl under the bed and hide.
“It’s like I can’t even see. You could be standing there half-naked, and I wouldn’t even know it.” She put her hands out in front of her, feeling around. “Everything goes completely blurry.”
“It’s amazing you even made it to my room.” She sensed the sarcasm in his voice.
Emree nodded, pointing to her mind. “I have a good sense of direction.”
“I see,” he said, pinching his lips together. He walked to the bed, throwing on a white t-shirt. While that was better than him being shirtless, it still made him look incredibly handsome. The outline of his muscles taunted her...
Move on, Emree. Move on!
“Anyway.” She clasped her hands behind her back, shifting her weight. “I wanted to say thank you for taking such good care of me last night.”
Davin walked up to her, gently drifting his fingers over her bruise. “I was worried about you. How do you feel?”
“Fine.” Her breath hitched at his touch, but her breathing returned to normal when he dropped his hand and continued to the table, leaning over the tray of food she’d brought. “Except for my stomach.”
“Your stomach?” He popped a square of cheese into his mouth. “What’s wrong with your stomach?”
Emree shrugged. “I don’t know. My stomach feels tight all the time. Like whenever I’m around you.” She paused. Why had she told him all of that? She needed to backpedal, and fast. “I’m sure it’s indigestion,” she added quickly.
“It’s not called indigestion,” the king muttered under his breath. “But whatever.”
Emree didn’t know what he meant, so she decided to move on. “I hope I didn’t do or say anything embarrassing.” She followed after him. “I usually don’t do well on medication.”
He bit a piece of fruit, shrugging. “No, nothing embarrassing comes to mind.”
“Good. I’ve been known to be a little chatty when I’m drugged up.”
“Nope.” He kept chewing.
Today was a big day for Davin. This was the date that would bring his ratings up. His public opinion had been slowly climbing since the beginning of the week. When Emree had checked the paper that morning, the king’s approval rating was up to twenty-six percent. That was double what it had been when she had first arrived. The opening of a pre-Desolation safe combined with the love story between him and Patrice would help bring the numbers even higher; it was all anyone had been talking about.
“So...are you ready for your intimate time today? You know, with just you and Patrice?”
“You’ll be there, too, right?”
“Well, yes,” she said.
“And the newswriters?”
“Yeah.”
Davin gave her a pointed look. “That doesn’t sound very intimate.”
Was the king disappointed that so many people would be there?
“I can arrange some alone time for you and Patrice,” she said, trying to keep her voice light.
“Emree.” Davin shook his head. “That won’t be necessary.”
She mentally noted that that was the second time in the last few minutes that he had called herEmree, not Miss Dutson. Apparently, Davin had also decided to use her first name. She wished she knew why. But either way, Emree wasn’t complaining. She liked the way her name rolled off his lips and the rich way his voice sounded when he said it. It captured her heart, making her lose herself for a moment.
“In two days, you’ll have to make your choice,” she said, focusing on keeping her smile on her lips. “I don’t want to overstep my bounds, but if you could tell me what woman you’re thinking about choosing, then perhaps I could spin a positive narrative to the newswriters.”
